Music of Portugal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

is internationally known in the music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

scene for its traditions of fado

Fado

Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...

, but the country has seen a recent expansion in musical styles, with modern acts from rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

to hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

becoming popular. If Amália

Amália Rodrigues

Amália da Piedade Rodrigues, GCSE, GCIH, , also known as Amália Rodrigues was a Portuguese singer and actress.She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. She was one of the most important figures in the genre's development, and enjoyed a...

is still the most recognizable Portuguese name in music, today the biggest exportations are bands like Moonspell

Moonspell

Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band from Brandoa, Lisbon. Formed in 1992, the group released their first EP Under the Moonspell in 1994, a year before the release of their first album Wolfheart...

(metal), Madredeus

Madredeus

Madredeus is a Portuguese band. Their music combines traditional Portuguese music with influences of modern folk music...

(fado and folk inspired), Buraka Som Sistema

Buraka Som Sistema

Buraka Som Sistema is an electronic dance music project from Portugal, specializing in a fusion of techno beats with the African kuduro genre, and are generally credited with creating the "progressive kuduro" variant and have been awarded an MTV European Music Award.-Origins:Buraka Som Sistema was...

(electro/kuduro/breakbeat), Da Weasel

Da Weasel

Da Weasel was a Portuguese hip-hop band from Almada, fronted by MCs Pacman and Virgul. They were one of the oldest hip-hop projects in Portugal, having been created in 1993 and terminated in 2010, and notorious for being a full session band, instead of relying on a DJ and samples...

, Sandro G (hip hop), Blasted Mechanism

Blasted Mechanism

Blasted Mechanism is a Portuguese electro-rock band known for its highly theatrical live shows involving elaborated alien-themed costumes as a backdrop to their music....

(experimental electro-rock) or Wraygunn

Wraygunn

Wraygunn are a Portuguese band formed in Coimbra, in early 1999. Their music is a mix of rock, soul, gospel and blues. Paulo Furtado says their sound is something like Elvis singing in a space shuttle...

(rock, blues), and artists like Mariza

Mariza

Mariza is the stage name of a popular fado singer. She was born Marisa dos Reis Nunes on 16 December 1973 in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique. At the time, Mozambique was known as the Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique....

(fado). The musicality of the Portuguese language has also inspired non-native speakers to use it in their recordings, for example Mil i Maria. Regional folk music remains popular too, having been updated and modernized in many cases, especially the northeastern region of Trás-os-Montes

Trás-os-Montes (region)

Trás-os-Montes was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 1930.Together with Alto Douro it formed Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province.- See also :...

.
Dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

, Rock

Rock music

, pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, kuduro

Kuduro

Kuduro is a type of music and dance originally born in Angola in the 1980s. It is characterized as uptempo, energetic, and danceable. Kuduro, which translates as "hard ass", began in Luanda, Angola in the late 80s...

, zouk

Zouk

Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...

, kizomba

Kizomba

Kizomba is one of the most popular genres of dance and music created in Angola. Derived directly from Zouk, sung generally in Portuguese, it is a genre of music with a romantic flow mixed with African rhythm. The kizomba dancing style is also known to be very sensual.- Origin :Kizomba was developed...

, Heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

and Hip Hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

are among the most popular musical styles in Portugal; however, the recent arrival of revivalist folk bands, such as Deolinda
Deolinda
Deolinda is a Portuguese quartet band founded in 2006 when brothers Pedro da Silva Martins and Luis José Martins invited their cousin, Ana Bacalhau, who was then singing with the band Lupanar, to sing four songs they had written. When they realized that her voice perfectly fit their songs they...

, led to a newfound interest in this type of music.

History

Portuguese music was influenced by music from Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

's musical tradition brought into the Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

by the Romans and the rich artistic Europen tradition. Its genres range from classical to popular music. Portugal's music history includes musical history from the medieval Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...

s through Carlos Seixas

Carlos Seixas

José António Carlos de Seixas, , was a Portuguese composer, the son of the cathedral organist, Francisco Vaz and Marcelina Nunes.Seixas was born in Coimbra...

' symphonies era to the composers of the modern era. Musical history of Portugal can be divided in different ways. Portuguese music encompasses musical production of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

, Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

, Classical

Classical period (music)

The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...

, Romantic

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

and Modern

Modern music

Modern music may refer to:* 20th-century music* 20th-century classical music* 21st-century classical music* Contemporary classical music* Modernism * Modern rock* Popular music...

eras.

Classical music

Portuguese music reflects its rich history and privileged geographical location. These are evidenced in the music history of Portugal

Music history of Portugal

-Liturgical repertoire:In the early days of the Catholic Church, several local liturgies developed, such as the Gallican in France, the Sarum in England, the antique Roman in Rome, the Ambrosian rite in Milan...

, which despite its firm European roots, nevertheless reflects the intercontinental cultural interactions begun in the Portuguese discoveries.

A short list of past and present Portuguese musicians with important contributions must necessarily include the names of composers Pedro de Escobar

Pedro de Escobar

Pedro de Escobar , a.k.a. Pedro do Porto, was a Portuguese composer of the Renaissance, mostly active in Spain. He was one of the earliest and most skilled composers of polyphony in the Iberian Peninsula, whose music has survived.-Life:He was born at Oporto, Portugal, but nothing is known of his...

, Manuel Cardoso

Manuel Cardoso

Manuel Cardoso was a Portuguese composer and organist. With Duarte Lobo and John IV of Portugal, he represented the "golden age" of Portuguese polyphony....

, Duarte Lobo

Duarte Lobo

Duarte Lobo was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He was one of the most famous Portuguese composers of the time, together with Filipe de Magalhães, Manuel Cardoso, composers who all began their academic studies as students of Manuel Mendes...

, Filipe de Magalhães

Filipe de Magalhães

Filipe de Magalhães was a Portuguese composer of sacred polyphony.-Life:Filipe de Magalhães was born in Azeitão, Portugal, in 1571. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora with Manuel Mendes where he was a colleague of the equally renowned polyphonists Duarte Lobo and Manuel Cardoso...

, Carlos Seixas

Carlos Seixas

José António Carlos de Seixas, , was a Portuguese composer, the son of the cathedral organist, Francisco Vaz and Marcelina Nunes.Seixas was born in Coimbra...

, Diogo Dias Melgás

Diogo Dias Melgás

Diogo Dias Melgás was a Portuguese composer of polyphony.-Life:Diogo Dias Melgás was born in Cuba, Alentejo, on 14 April 1638. He was a choirboy at the Colégio da Claustra in Évora in 1646...

, João Domingos Bomtempo

João Domingos Bomtempo

João Domingos Bomtempo was a Portuguese classical pianist, composer and pedagogue.-Biography:Bomtempo was the son of an Italian musician in the Portuguese court orchestra, and studied at the Music Seminary of the Patriarchal See in Lisbon...

, Marcos Portugal

Marcos Portugal

Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal was a Portuguese classical composer, who achieved great international fame for his operas in Italian....

, José Vianna da Motta

José Vianna da Motta

José Vianna da Motta was a distinguished Portuguese pianist, teacher, and composer. He was one of the last pupils of Franz Liszt...

, Luís de Freitas Branco

Luís de Freitas Branco

Luís Maria da Costa de Freitas Branco was a Portuguese composer and professor of music who played a preeminent part in the development of Portuguese music in the first half of the 20th century....

, Joly Braga Santos

Joly Braga Santos

José Manuel Joly Braga Santos, ComSE was a Portuguese composer and conductor, who was born and died in Lisbon. He wrote six symphonies.-Biography:...

, Fernando Lopes-Graça

Fernando Lopes-Graça

Fernando Lopes-Graça, GOSE, GCIH was a Portuguese composer and conductor of the 20th century...

, António Fragoso and Emmanuel Nunes

Emmanuel Nunes

-Biography:Nunes was born in Lisbon, where he studied composition, first from 1959 to 1963 at the Academia de Amadores de Música with Francine Benoit, and then with Fernando Lopes Graça at the University . He then attended courses at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse , and in 1964 moved to Paris...

; organists such as António Carreira

António Carreira

António Carreira was a Portuguese composer and organist of the Renaissance.He held the post of organist at the Royal Chapel in Lisbon. His compositions reveal his high contrapuntal craftsmanship...

or Manuel Rodrigues Coelho

Manuel Rodrigues Coelho

Manuel Rodrigues Coelho was a Portuguese organist and composer. He is the first important Iberian keyboard composer since Cabezón....

; singers such as Luísa Todi

Luísa Todi

Luísa Rosa de Aguiar Todi was a popular and successful Portuguese mezzo-soprano opera singer.Luísa Todi was born Luísa Rosa de Aguiar on January 9, 1753 in Setúbal, Portugal. In 1765, her family moved to Lisbon, where her father was a musical writer in the Theatre of Bairro Alto.Luísa began her...

, Elisabete Matos

Elisabete Matos

Elisabete Matos is a Portuguese soprano.- Biography :Elisabete Matos was born in Caldas da Taipas, Guimarães , Portugal and she began her first musical studies in at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian de Braga....

or José Carlos Xavier

José Carlos Xavier

-Biography:A scholar of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, he graduated cum laude from the Liceo Musicale "G. B. Viotti", in Vercelli, Italy, where he took up residence.-Career:Xavier made his debut at the São Carlos National Theatre,...

; pianists such as Maria João Pires

Maria João Pires

-Musical studies:Her first recital was at the age of five, and at the age of seven she was already playing Mozart Piano Concertos publicly. Two years later she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Professor Campos Coelho at the Lisbon...

or Sequeira Costa

Sequeira Costa

Sequeira Costa is a Portuguese pianist who is especially admired for his interpretations of the Romantic repertoire....

; cellists such as Guilhermina Suggia

Guilhermina Suggia

Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteado Mena, known as Guilhermina Suggia, was a Portuguese cellist. She studied in Germany with Pablo Casals, and built an international reputation. She spent many years living in England, where she was particularly celebrated...

;

Fado

Fado (fate in Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

) arose in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

as the music of the urban poor. Fado songs are typically lyrically harsh, with the singer resigned to sadness, poverty and loneliness, but remaining dignified and firmly controlled.

Many claim that fado origins are much older, back to the 15th century, when women cried with longing for their husbands that went to the never sailed seas; others also claim that Arabic inprint in Fado is visible, especially in instruments. Arabs left Portugal in the 13th century, but their influence in crafts and music prevailed. Fado is often sung with a Portuguese guitar

Portuguese guitar

The Portuguese guitar or Portuguese guitarra is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six courses comprising two strings each. It is one of the few musical instruments to use Preston tuners. It is most notably associated with fado.-History:The origin of the Portuguese...

Late in the 19th century, the city of Coimbra

Coimbra

Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

developed a distinctive scene. Coimbra, a literary capital for the country, is now known for being more refined and majestic. The sound has been described as "the song of those who retain and cherish their illusions, not of those who have irretrievably lost them" by Rodney Gallop in 1936. A related form are the guitarradas of the 1920s and 30s, best known for Dr. Antonio Menano and a group of virtuoso musicians he formed, including Artur Paredes

Artur Paredes

Artur Paredes was a Portuguese guitar player in the city of Coimbra. Much of today's Coimbra guitar features can be traced back to his contact with local luthiers. His son Carlos Paredes was a virtuoso and attained popularity, becoming the most internationally known Portuguese guitar player...

and José Joaquim Cavalheiro. Student fado, performed by students at Coimbra University, have maintained a tradition since it was pioneered in the 1890s by Augusto Hilário.

Starting in 1939 with the career of Amália Rodrigues

Amália Rodrigues

, fado was an internationally popular genre. A singer and film actress, Rodrigues made numerous stylistic innovations that have made her probably the most influential fadista of all time.

A new generation of young musicians have contributed to the social and political revival of fado music, adapting and blending it with new trends. Contemporary fado musicians like Mariza

Mariza

, Mísia

Mísia

Mísia is a Portuguese fado singer, born in 1955 in Porto, Portugal. Mísia is a polyglot. Despite singing mostly fado, she sings some of her themes in Spanish, French, Catalan, English and even Japanese...

and Camané

Camané

Camané is a male vocalist, and a forerunner of the new generation of fado male singers. "The greatest fadista since Amalia Rodrigues and Maria da Fe," is how British biographer David Bret, describes him....

have introduced the music to a new public. The sensuality of Misia and other female fadistas (fado singers) like Maria Ana Bobone, Cuca Roseta, Cristina Branco

Cristina Branco

Cristina Branco is a Portuguese musician.Branco was originally drawn to jazz and forms of Portuguese music before finally opting for fado after being introduced to the music of Amália Rodrigues by her grandfather. Branco studied the poems from which major fado lyrics are taken...

, Ana Moura

Ana Moura

Ana Moura is an internationally recognized Portuguese fado singer, and the youngest fadista to be nominated for a Dutch Edison Award.-Career:...

, Katia Guerreiro

Katia Guerreiro

-Early years:Born in South Africa to Portuguese parents, Katia went to the Portuguese Azores islands when she was still a child. In 1994 she went to Lisbon where she studied medicine at the University of Lisbon....

, and Mariza has walked the fine line between carrying on the tradition of Amália Rodrigues

Amália Rodrigues

and trying to bring in a new audience. Mísia

Mísia

and Carlos do Carmo

Carlos do Carmo

Carlos do Carmo, ComIH is a Portuguese fado singer, one of the finest in the "Lisbon Song"...

are also well known fado singers.Ricardo Ribeiro and Miguel Capucho are one of the best male fado singers of the new generation.

Regional folk music

Recent events have helped keep Portuguese regional folk (rancho folclórico) traditions alive, most especially including the worldwide roots revival

Roots revival

A roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...

of the 1960s and 70s.

Azorean folk music

The people of the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

islands maintain some distinct musical traditions, such as the traditionally fiddle-driven chamarrita
Chamarrita
Chamarrita can refer to two different types of music and dance, one from the Azores in Portugal and one from the Rio de la Plata littoral region in northern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil.-Azorean Chamarrita:...

dance.

Trás-os-Montes

Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro is a historical province of Portugal located in the northeastern corner of the country. Vast plateaus, river valleys, mountains, and castles abound in Trás os Montes e Alto Douro....

' musical heritage is closely related to the music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias

Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias

The traditional music of Galicia and Asturias, located along Spain's north-west Atlantic coast, are highly distinctive folk styles that have some similarities with the neighbouring area of Cantabria...

. Traditional bagpipes (gaita-de-fole transmontana), a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

vocals and a unique musical scale

Musical scale

In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...

with equal semitones have kept alive a vital tradition. (Miranda de I Douro), some artists such as Galamdum Galundaina sing in Mirandese language

Mirandese language

The Mirandese language is a Romance language belonging to the Astur-Leonese linguistic group, sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal, in the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro and Vimioso...

. Also the Pauliteiros folk dance is popular. Some residents sing in both Portuguese and Mirandese.

Dazkarieh
Fausto
Notas e Voltas
Roberto Leal
Roberto Leal
Roberto Leal, stage name of António Joaquim Fernandes, is a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, born in Macedo de Cavaleiros municipality, Braganza district, in northeast Portugal. He has sold more than 17 million albums, and has received 30 golden records and 5 platinum records.In 1962 his family moved...
Ronda dos Quatro Caminhos
Tonicha
Tonicha
Tonicha is a Portuguese Popular music / folk singer. She represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971, with the song "Menina do alto da serra" ; she finished ninth.-Discography:*Vários-Fala do Homem Nascido *Folclore *As Duas Faces de Tonicha...
Oioai*Janita Salomé
Uxukalhus
Frei Fado D'el Rei
Gaiteiros de Lisboa
Roncos do Diabo
Dâna
Dulce Pontes
Dulce Pontes
Dulce José Silva Pontes is a Portuguese songwriter and singer who performs in many musical styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music artist...
Tereza Salgueiro
Teresa Salgueiro
Teresa Salgueiro , OIH is a Portuguese singer. She is best known as the lead singer of Madredeus from 1987 until 2007....
Vitorino
Xaile

Popular music

Famous artists and bands included in the past Tonicha

Tonicha

Tonicha is a Portuguese Popular music / folk singer. She represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971, with the song "Menina do alto da serra" ; she finished ninth.-Discography:*Vários-Fala do Homem Nascido *Folclore *As Duas Faces de Tonicha...

, Paco Bandeira

Paco Bandeira

Paco Bandeira is a singer from Portugal recognised as an international star.-References:...

, Paulo de Carvalho

Paulo de Carvalho

Paulo de Carvalho is a Portuguese singer.Carvalho was a member of the band The Sheiks during the 1970s, and participated in the Festival RTP da Canção and Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and 1977...

, José Cid

José Cid

José Cid is a Portuguese singer and composer. Outside of his home country, Cid is best known for performing "Um grande, grande amor" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 and for the progressive rock album 10,000 Anos Depois Entre Venus E Marte.Over his longlasting career, Cid has been awarded...

, Linda de Suza

Linda de Suza

Linda de Suza Linda de Suza Linda de Suza (born Teolinda Joaquina de Sousa Lança, 22 February 1948, Beringel, Beja (Alentejo), is a Portuguese and French singer, actress and author. At age 3 Linda's family moved to Lisbon....

, Duo Ouro Negro, Roberto Leal

Roberto Leal

Roberto Leal, stage name of António Joaquim Fernandes, is a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, born in Macedo de Cavaleiros municipality, Braganza district, in northeast Portugal. He has sold more than 17 million albums, and has received 30 golden records and 5 platinum records.In 1962 his family moved...

and Ornatos Violeta

Ornatos Violeta

Ornatos Violeta were a Portuguese alternative rock group whose music included some other influences, such as funk, jazz and ska. The band was formed in the city of Porto....

. Nowadays some of the most popular acts are Aurea

Aurea (singer)

Aurea is a Portuguese soul singer from Santiago do Cacém, Alentejo. She debuted in 2008 with her single "Okay Alright", which was included on the soundtrack of the Portuguese soap opera "Morangos com Açúcar". In the end of 2008, she performed the song live at the Morangos Live Festival, among with...

, Amor Electro, The Legendary Tigerman

The Legendary Tigerman

The Legendary Tigerman is the artistic name of Paulo Furtado, a Portuguese blues performer in a one-man-band style. With a singular style, Furtado plays guitar, harmonica and drums alone on stage....

, Madredeus

Madredeus

Madredeus is a Portuguese band. Their music combines traditional Portuguese music with influences of modern folk music...

, GNR

GNR (band)

GNR is a Portuguese band founded in 1981. This band shares its acronym with the Guarda Nacional Republicana and is inseparable from the concept of Portuguese rock. Many years after its creation, numerous recordings show the band's popularity...

, Xutos & Pontapés

Xutos & Pontapés

Xutos & Pontapés are a Portuguese rock band, who got together in Almada, Portugal in 1978, 4 years after the Carnation Revolution. They started off in the local punk rock scene and set the trend - singing rock tunes in Portuguese...

, The Gift

The Gift (band)

The Gift is a Portuguese alternative pop/rock band, formed in 1994. They have released five albums to date. In 2005 they won the MTV Europe award for best Portuguese act.-Biography:...

, David Fonseca

David fonseca

David Fonseca is a Portuguese musician, singer-songwriter, and plays several instruments, including acoustic guitar and organ. He is mainly recognised because of his successful music career, as member of Silence 4 and as a solo singer...

, Buraka Som Sistema

Buraka Som Sistema

, Mil i Maria and Boss AC.

Pimba music

Pimba music is the Portuguese version of the euro Schlager

Schlager

Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...

or the Balkan Turbo-Folk

Turbo-folk

Turbo-folk is a popular musical sub-genre that originated in Serbia, the Balkans. Having mainstream popularity in Serbia, although closely associated with Serbian performers, its sound is as popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro...

. Its name cames from a 90s hit Pimba Pimba. Some of its biggest names are Emanuel, Ágata, Ruth Marlene and Quim Barreiros

Quim Barreiros

Quim Barreiros is a Portuguese pimba music writer and singer.He was born June 19, 1947, in Vila Praia de Âncora, located in Northern Portugal. A Garagem da Vizinha is one of his big hits. His most recent album is "O Brioche de Sofia"....

. This genre mixes traditional sounds with accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

, Latin beats and funny or religious (mainly kitch) lyrics.

Political music (Música de Intervenção)

During the reign of the fascist regime music was widely used by the left-wing resistance as a way to say what could not be said, singing about freedom, equality and democracy, mainly through metaphors and symbols. Many composers and singers became famous and persecuted by the political police, some of them being arrested or exiled, such as Zeca Afonso

Zeca Afonso

José Manuel Cerqueira Afonso dos Santos, known as Zeca Afonso or just Zeca , was born in Aveiro, Portugal, the son of José Nepomuceno Afonso, a judge, and Maria das Dores. Zeca is among the most influential folk and political musicians in Portuguese history...

, Paulo de Carvalho

Paulo de Carvalho

Paulo de Carvalho is a Portuguese singer.Carvalho was a member of the band The Sheiks during the 1970s, and participated in the Festival RTP da Canção and Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and 1977...

, José Mário Branco, Sérgio Godinho

Sérgio Godinho

Sérgio Godinho, OL is a Portuguese poet, composer, and singer. He was born on August 31, 1945 in Porto, Portugal, and is one of the most influential popular musicians in Portugal...

, Adriano Correia de Oliveira

Adriano Correia de Oliveira

Adriano Maria Correia Gomes de Oliveira, GCIH, ComL, or just Adriano was a Portuguese musician, born to a conservative Roman Catholic family in Porto. His family moved to Avintes after his birth...

, Manuel Freire

Manuel Freire

Manuel Freire is a Portuguese influential left-wing singer and composer, although he also works as a computer technician. Freire was born in Vagos, Aveiro District in 25 April 1942....

, Fausto

Fausto

Fausto may refer to:* Fausto Amodei, Italian singer-songwriter* Fausto Bordalo Dias, Portuguese singer-songwriter* Fausto Carmona, Dominican baseball player* Fausto Cleva, Italian-born American operatic conductor...

, Vitorino

Vitorino

Vitorino Salomé is a Portuguese singer-songwriter. His music combines the traditional music of his native region of Alentejo and urban popular song.-Albums:Semear Salsa ao Reguinho co-produced with Fausto Bordalo Dias...

, Júlio Pereira and some others.

José Afonso began performing in the 1950s; he was a popular roots-based musician that led the Portuguese roots revival

Roots revival

. With artists like Sérgio Godinho

Sérgio Godinho

Sérgio Godinho, OL is a Portuguese poet, composer, and singer. He was born on August 31, 1945 in Porto, Portugal, and is one of the most influential popular musicians in Portugal...

and Luís Cília, Afonso helped form nova canção music, which, after the 1974 revolution, gained socially-aware lyrics and became canto livre

Canto livre

- Canto Livre :This is a kind of music with roots in Alentejo music, predominantly inspired by political messages, in particular from left-wing thinkers. It was very common after the 1974 carnation revolution in Portugal, since the country had liberated from an almost 40 year right-wing dictatorship...

. The biggest name in canto livre was Brigada Víctor Jara

Brigada Víctor Jara

The Brigada Víctor Jara is a Portuguese folk band, with a career of more than 30 years and among the most influential bands of the Portuguese folk....

, a group that seriously studied and were influenced by Portuguese regional music.

After the Carnation Revolution

Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...

, that same music was used to support left-wing parties. Political ideas and causes, like the agrarian reform, socialism, equality, democratic elections, free education and many other were a constant presence in these songs lyrics, often written by well-known poets like José Barata-Moura

José Barata-Moura

José Adriano Rodrigues Barata-Moura, ComIH is a Portuguese philosopher, and a prestigious actual figure of the Portuguese culture. Dedicating his thought to many philosophical subjects such as politics, ethics and, most of all, to ontology. From May 7, 1998 until May 22, 2006, Barata-Moura served...

, Manuel Alegre

Manuel Alegre

Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...

or Ary dos Santos

Ary dos Santos

José Carlos Ary dos Santos, GCIH or just Ary dos Santos was one of the most relevant names of the Portuguese popular poetry of the 20th century....

Romantic

The highest exponents of this kind of music in Portugal

Portugal

are Tony Carreira

Tony Carreira

Tony Carreira is a Portuguese romantic singer. Born in the small rural locality of Armadouro, Pampilhosa da Serra, he moved to Paris at age 10 with his emigrant parents, and lived there for 20 years...

and Marco Paulo (both, and even other performers, have a certain level of overlap with the Pimba genre, even partial or just in certain songs).
The poet-singer-songwriter Fausto Bordolo Dias, a significant contributor to the modern romantic genre, can be compared to Leonard Cohen.

Latin

This is a relatively new sound in Portugal. Despite being an Iberian country, Portugal never had clear influences from the Caribbean beats. This style came to the country in the 90s, following a Spanish and world trend. Examples of Latin music singers in Portuguese are Ana Malhoa and Mil i Maria.

African

With immigration from the former colonies, Portugal

Portugal

received many African communities with their different traditional sounds. Some singers were born in Lisbon

Lisbon

but still, were singing African influenced music. Two examples are Lura

Lura (musician)

Lura, born Maria de Lurdes Assunção Pina is a Portuguese singer and musician, of Cape Verdean descent. Her compositions are based on traditional Cape-Verdean music as for example the Morna, Funaná and Batuque, and influenced by African and contemporary Western music.-Biography:Lura was born in...

and Sara Tavares

Sara Tavares

Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares is a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composes African, Portuguese and North American influenced world music. She...

, who sing a mixture that includes sounds from Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

Jazz

People such as Mário Barreiros (drums), Mário Laginha

Mário Laginha

Mário João Laginha dos Santos, OIH , piano player and composer, is one of the most creative contemporary Portuguese jazz musicians. He is mostly recognized for his recurrent collaborations with fellow Portuguese jazz singer Maria João, with whom he recorded over a dozen discs and toured Portugal...

and António Pinho Vargas

António Pinho Vargas

António Pinho Vargas is a Portuguese composer and pianist specialized in the performance and writing of Jazz and as well as Contemporary Music....

(piano) and the singer Maria João

Maria João

Maria João is a Portuguese jazz singer.She is known for her vocal flexibility and improvisational skills. While normally considered a jazz singer, her music incorporates a mix of folk/ethnic music, modern jazz, and the avant-garde...

have long and noteworthy careers in the field, despite experimenting, sometimes with notable success, other genres of music, and a more recent generation is following their footsteps, notable the pianist Bernardo Sassetti, Carlos Bica

Carlos Bica

Carlos Bica, born in Portugal and currently living in Germany, is a double bass player.Bica studied at the Academia dos Amadores de Musica in Estoril and the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg. He was "Musician of the Year" in Portugal in 1998...

, João Paulo

João Paulo

João Paulo is a Portuguese given name, the equivalent of "John Paul" in English. It also may be refer to:*João Paulo Daniel , Brazilian footballer*Sérgio Luís Donizetti , aka João Paulo, former Brazilian footballer...

and the singers Jacinta

Jacinta

The girl's name Jacinta is the feminine form of the male Spanish and Portuguese name Jacinto . Variants include the Italian form Giacinta, as well as Hyacintha, Jacinda, Jacintha, and Jaxine....

and Vânia Fernandes

Vânia Fernandes

Vânia Fernandes is a Portuguese singer from Funchal, Madeira .Known for her powerful stage presence, as well as her prominent and versatile voice, Fernandes has participated in several singing contests and performed in public in both her home island of Madeira and on the mainland of Portugal since...

Reggae and Ska

More underground but very prominent are Portuguese reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

and ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

. Some of the more famous bands of these types include Primitive Reason

Primitive Reason

Primitive Reason are an alternative cross-over rock band based in Portugal, with Guillermo de Llera , James Beja , Abel Beja , Ricardo Barriga and Pepe de Souza...

, Three and a Quarter

Three and a Quarter

Three and a Quarter is a 3-piece, reggae-influenced rock band from Lisbon, Portugal. Formed in 1997, Three and a Quarter is known for their intensely visceral, at times chaotic live shows, which they have performed throughout Europe and the United States....

and Purocracy. This music is popular among young people, with its main roots based in Lisbon and the surrounding areas. In 2004/2005, it was a born a wave of Portuguese bands doing noise rock and psych improvisation music, like Fish & Sheep, Kussondulola, Frango

Frango

Frango mints are a brand of chocolate truffles first created for the Frederick & Nelson department stores. Traditionally flavored with mint and widely popularized by the Marshall Field and Company department store, they are now produced and distributed by Macy's department stores...

, One Love Family, CAVEIRA

Caveira

Caveira is the smallest civil parish on the island of Flores, located within the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, in the Azorean archipelago. The population in 2001 was less than 100 inhabitants, in an area of approximately 3.29 km²...

, Tropa Macaca, Lobster

Lobster

Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

, Dance Damage and DOPO.

Zouk

is a style of rhythmic music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

originating from the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

islands of Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

and Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

. Zouk means 'party' in the local creole

Creole language

A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...

of French with English and African influences, all three of which contribute the sound. In Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, it is particularly popular in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, while on the African countries of Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

and Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

they have developed their own type of Zouk. Zouk was introduced to Portugal by Portuguese speaking immigrants from Angola

Angola

and Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

. Related styles include, kizomba

Kizomba

and kuduro

Kuduro

Rock and other

The rock in Portugal

Portugal

was born in the 80s

80s

-Significant people:* Titus Flavius VespasianusRoman Emperor * Titus Flavius Domitianus, Roman Emperor...

of the 20th century. Its beginners were Rui Veloso

Rui Veloso

Rui Manuel Gaudêncio Veloso, commonly known as Rui Veloso, CavIH , is a Portuguese rock singer and musician. Regarded as the "father of Portuguese rock", this composer and interpreter had a great impact on the Portuguese music scene with the record Ar de Rock .Songs such as Chico Fininho and A...

and Jorge Palma

Jorge Palma

Jorge Manuel d’Abreu Palma, known as Jorge Palma , is a Portuguese singer and songwriter.-Early life and career:At just the age of six, Palma learnt to play the piano and to read...

, among others.
An example of a popular Portuguese rock band, having a long history, is Xutos & Pontapés

Xutos & Pontapés

who've been playing for over 30 years and are known widely throughout Portugal, as well as Mão Morta

Mão Morta

Mão Morta is a Portuguese avant-garde rock band that started its activities in 1985 in Braga. The group's name means "dead hand", based on a traditional Portuguese nursery rhyme. They are generally considered to be one of the most important bands in the Portuguese rock scene...

, a unique and controversial group with 25 years of existence. Well known solo singers include Rui Veloso

Rui Veloso

, Jorge Palma

Jorge Palma

Jorge Manuel d’Abreu Palma, known as Jorge Palma , is a Portuguese singer and songwriter.-Early life and career:At just the age of six, Palma learnt to play the piano and to read...

, and Pedro Abrunhosa

Pedro Abrunhosa

thumb|250px|Pedro AbrunhosaPedro Abrunhosa is a Portuguese singer, musician and songwriter. Aside from his music, he is known for always wearing sunglasses in public. Abrunhosa also played himself in the 1999 film La Lettre. He is an active spokesman for the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa...

. Clã

Clã

Clã is a Portuguese pop-rock band of a mixed nature in terms of style, ranging from moments of pure balladry, through jazzy details, to enthusiastic pop songs. They are currently regarded as one of the best Portuguese bands...

(pop rock), Blasted Mechanism

Blasted Mechanism

Blasted Mechanism is a Portuguese electro-rock band known for its highly theatrical live shows involving elaborated alien-themed costumes as a backdrop to their music....

(experimental electro-rock), RAMP

RAMP

RAMP was an American soul/jazz band from Cincinnati, Ohio. RAMP has mistakenly been said to stand for "Roy Ayers Music Production" and "Roy Ayers Music Project", but Ayers was not a member, though he did write and produce songs on their debut album....

(metal), ThanatoSchizO

ThanatoSchizO

ThanatoSchizO is a metal group from Santa Marta de Penaguião , founded in late 1997. Practicing a sound associated with progressive death metal, the band makes various incursions into other musical genres such as black metal, doom metal, world music, progressive rock, atmospheric and electronic...

(metal), Faithfull

Faithfull (band)

Faithfull is a Portuguese hard-rock band. They were born in 2001 by the hand of Rui Martins and Sérgio Sabino . Current members are Rui Martins , Sérgio Sabino , Sérgio Ramos and Nuno Ladesma ....

(soft rock), Suspiria Franklyn

Suspiria Franklyn

Suspiria Franklyn is a Portuguese singer. She works in different areas, such as music, plastic arts, photography, journalism, poetry writing, production & management, cinema and photographic modelling....

(punk-rock/new wave), Riding Pânico (post rock), Linda Martini (post/noise rock), peixe : aviao (post-rock), Ornatos Violeta

Ornatos Violeta

Ornatos Violeta were a Portuguese alternative rock group whose music included some other influences, such as funk, jazz and ska. The band was formed in the city of Porto....

(indie rock), Stereo Parks (Indie Rock), A Book In The Shelf (grunge rock), Mazgani

Mazgani

Mazgani is an Iranian-Portuguese singer-songwriter who started playing in Setúbal in the summer of 2004. Shahryar Mazgani's family had left Iran after the Iranian Revolution....

(alternative) or Green Echo

Green echo

Green Echo is an instrumental band from Lisbon, Portugal, crossing over various genres such as dub, world music, progressive music, experimental music.-Biography:Green echo was founded by Nno Mar , J and Pedrü in 2003...

(experimental dub), are other important acts.

Portuguese hip hop

The beginning of the 21st century was the origin of a new wave of Portuguese Hip Hop singers, who adapted foreign sounds to the Portuguese reality and who sing in Portuguese

Portuguese language

. Some of the best examples are Da Weasel

Da Weasel

, Boss AC

Boss AC

Boss AC is a Portuguese rapper originally from Cape Verde. His albums include "Preto no Branco","Ritmo, Amor e Palavras" , "Rimar contra a Maré" and "TPC"....

and Sam the Kid

Sam the Kid

Samuel Martins Torres Santiago Mira , better known by his professional stage name, Sam the Kid, is a Portuguese rapper and producer.-Life & music career:...

Heavy metal

The biggest exponent of heavy metal music in Portugal is the band Moonspell

Moonspell

, originally from Lisboa and who have achieved some international recognition, mainly in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

Electronic music

In electronica, Underground Sound of Lisbon

Underground Sound of Lisbon

Underground Sound of Lisbon was a collaboration between Portuguese house music producers Rui da Silva and DJ Vibe . It was active between 1993 and 2001....

was a musical project that brought international attention to the Portuguese DJs, namely Rui da Silva

Rui da Silva

Rui da Silva is a Portuguese producer and DJ, whose single "Touch Me" topped the UK Singles Chart in 2001.At the time, he was the only Portuguese musician to have a UK hit, and hence was the first to score a UK number one.-Career:...

– the only Portuguese musician to reach #1 on the UK charts – and DJ Vibe

DJ Vibe

This article refers to the House DJ Vibe, not the hardcore DJ Vibe DJ Vibe is a house music DJ.-Career:Vibe was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and became a DJ at 15...

, Pete tha Zouk.
Some other important names of this kind of music are Buraka Som Sistema

Buraka Som Sistema

and Micro Audio Waves

Micro audio waves

Micro Audio Waves are a Portuguese band. Micro Audio Waves, originally a duoformed by Flak and C. Morgado , they formed in 2000, and began by developing compositions with a minimal and experimental electronica style, the results of which can be heard in their first album Micro Audio Waves .With...

.
In Porto, the hometown to numerous talents such as Nuno Forte, Drum n' Bass styles are immensely popular, and the city has hosted various important international names in the genre such as Noisia

Noisia

Noisia, stylized as NOISIΛ , is a Dutch Electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, The Netherlands. They now produce a wide variety of music including drum and bass, dubstep, breakbeat and house music...

, The Panacea and Black Sun Empire

Black Sun Empire

Black Sun Empire is the stage name of a team of Dutch disc jockeys and Drum & Bass music producers Rene Verdult and brothers Milan and Micha Heyboer....

.
Also, in the Psychedelic Trance

Psychedelic trance

Psychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy is a form of electronic music characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. It appeared in the mainstream in 1995 as with reporting of the trend of Goa trance. The genre offers variety...

genre there are a worldwide famous project: Paranormal Attack.

Experimental and Avantgarde

Portuguese music has a striving experimental underground musical scene since the 80's, with some exponents attaining international attention. Notable groups and musicians in this genre are Osso Exótico

Osso Exótico

Osso Exótico is an experimental, drone music project from Portugal formed in 1989. It’s members included André Maranha, António Forte, Bernardo Devlin, David Maranha, Patrícia Machás, and Francisco Tropa...

, Ocaso Épico

Ocaso Épico

Farinha Masterwas a Portuguese experimental musician and performer. Most notably was the mentor of Ocaso Épico in 1981, a project that incorporated synth-pop, electronica, industrial music, minimalism and Portuguese folk music in a hallucinated, sarcastic style. Their lyrics are often absurd...

, Telectu

Telectu

Telectu is a Portuguese experimental, avant-garde music duo formed in 1982 by Vítor Rua and Jorge Lima Barreto, a jazz musician and musical essayist. Their music incorporates a variety of elements from free jazz, rock, electronica, minimalism and concrete music. They are arguably the most...

, Carlos Zíngaro

Carlos Zingaro

Carlos Zíngaro is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation....

and Pedro INF

Pedro INF

Pedro INF is a Portuguese electronic music artist, currently signed to Some Bizzare Records.-Background:Pedro INF is an alterego of Pedro Granja De Carvalho, a musician whose main style can be categorized as IDM, braindance, or experimental electronic music...

Popular and Rock

Other popular music include bands born out of Portuguese 'telenovelas' or 'soap-operas'. The first wave of such bands included 4Taste and DZRT who went on to gain national popularity.

Eurovision participations

Portugal has been participating at the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

since 1964, and has yet to win the competition, its best result being the 6th place achieved by Lucia Moniz

Lúcia Moniz

Ana Lúcia Pereira Moniz is a Portuguese singer and actress. Moniz represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 and has released three music albums to date. She has also acted in several films, including Love Actually....

's folk inspired song "O meu coração não tem cor" in 1996, penned by Pedro Vaz Osorio. Since then Portugal

Portugal

never had a Top 10 place.

Portuguese-descent singers in the world

Musicians such as Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado

Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...

, Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

, Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers

Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...

and Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...

(the latter actually Portugal-born) are popular in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, though only Nelly Furtado reflected some of her Portuguese origin, especially in lesser-known songs in her first albums (songs like "Scared" sung by Furtado in English and Portuguese, "Nas Horas do Dia" and "Força"). Luso-francofonic artists (also of Portuguese origin) include Linda de Suza

Linda de Suza

(Portuguese born and later an immigrant in France) and Marie Myriam

Marie Myriam

Marie Myriam is a French singer of Portuguese origins...

. Steve Perry

Steve Perry (musician)

Stephen Ray "Steve" Perry is an American singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Journey from 1977–1987 and 1995–1998. Perry had a successful solo career throughout the late 1980s and early '90s.Perry's voice has garnered acclaim from musical peers and music...

, former lead singer of rock group Journey

Journey (band)

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...

is American of Portuguese ancestry. The lead singer from Jamiroquai

Jamiroquai

Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...

, Jay Kay is descendent from Portugal through his father

External links

Audio clips: Traditional music of Portugal. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.

Portuguese Music Information Centre
Folk and Trad music and dance News, interviews, reviews, photos and music
XLRap – www.xlrap.net – Portuguese HipHop Portal, containing news, events, interviews, biographies, books, reviews and hosting local radio podcasts
BlancoMusic Home of Mil i Maria, Portuguese-language nu-fado.
Portuguese Music By Gina Modesto in Accessible Portugal Online Magazine
GangdoMoinho – HipHop Tuga – Hip Hop Tuga e Crioulo, downloads, videoclips, albuns, mixtaps, entrevistas, concertos, beefs/battles, novidades e desporto online (Sportv)
Portuguese Composers Database

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.